Eons Help

Have a question about Eons blogs? Take a look at these FAQs.

• What is a blog?
• How do I make my first blog post?
• How do I edit my Eons blog post?
• What happens to my ownership of content (blog, Group posts, photos, etc.) when I post on Eons?
• Why does Eons require a license to use the content I post?
• Eons Community Guidelines

What is a blog?

A blog is your own online journal (from "Web log"). To read how to start your own blog on Eons, please read How to Write a Blog.

How do I make my first blog post?

1. Log in to Eons.
2. From My Eons, click on the blog link.
3. Click on the Post a blog link located in the middle left side of the page under the blog definition.
4. Enter your content into the available boxes. Boxes with an * are required.
5. You may upload a photo if you wish, but this is not required.
6. Enter pertinent key words that will help other members locate your blog. For example if you are writing a blog about gardening, some possible key words would be "gardening," "plants," and "flowers." Key words are used by members to search for blogs that interest them.
7. When you have finished entering your information, click the Publish button.

Read more in How to Write a Blog.

How do I edit my Eons blog post?

To edit an existing blog, follow these steps:

1. Log in to Eons.
2. From My Eons, click on the blog link.
3. Click on the Edit this blog link for the posting you wish to edit.
4. Make your edits and click the Publish button.

What happens to my ownership of content (blog, Group posts, photos, etc.) when I post on Eons?

Like other community websites, Eons posts official Terms of Use (TOU) that describe the relationships, rights and responsibilities among the website (that’s us) and its users (anyone who posts on or just visits eons.com). While it is important to read the Eons TOU, we hope that this FAQ will clarify our position about the ownership of any content created by Eons members that you post on Eons.

We feel very strongly that Eons members should not have to give up anything in order to share their ideas and creations with each other and with us. That’s why our TOU specifically state, under the heading, Content and Comments Posted by Eons members, “After posting Member Content, you continue to retain your ownership rights in such Member Content, and you continue to have the right to use your Member Content in any way you choose.” If you create any original content (writing, artwork, photos, blogs, etc.), then with regard to that content, even after posting here, you continue to have the rights to:

• sell it;
• modify it;
• license it to others
• distribute (publish) it anywhere, including posting on other websites; and
• create other content based upon it.

While you continue to own the content you post, by posting on eons.com you do grant Eons a limited license with regard to that content. But we want to make it clear that in agreeing to this license, you do not give up your copyright rights. A license is simply a kind of permission. For example, when you invite someone into your home, you are giving them a license to enter. But by giving them that license, you are not handing your house over to them, or giving up any of your ownership rights in your house. The situation with content you post on eons.com may not be identical, but it is similar. By giving Eons a license, you give us the right to do certain things with regard to your content (see our FAQ, Why does Eons require a license to use the content I post?), but this does not take away from your own ownership rights in that content. The only thing you can no longer do is give someone else an exclusive license to the same content that you’ve already given Eons a license to. You can, of course, give others the same non-exclusive license you’ve given Eons.

Another point we want to address here is what happens, or can happen, to your content when you post it anywhere on the Internet. We’ve heard it said that when you place something in writing on the World Wide Web, it’s as if you’ve written it on a postcard that travels through the U.S. mail system: anyone can see what you’ve written. Search engines can find your postings, and unless some kind of copy-protection utility is used, someone can copy and distribute your content, either as-is or modified, without your permission. That’s a risk that many of us take, and it’s hard to prevent others from violating the laws against this kind of behavior. At Eons, we do try to protect our members through the TOU, by requiring all who enter to (1) acknowledge that those who post here own the copyright in their original content, and (2) agree to honor each others’ copyrights. We can’t guarantee that this will protect against “pirates,” but at least we’re laying down the law. We hope this gives you a little more comfort in taking part in our community!

Why does Eons require a license to use the content I post?

As copyright owner in any content you create, you alone have the right to display, publish, distribute, reformat and edit your original content. This means that Eons cannot do any of these things unless you give us a license to do so. So the license described in Eons’ Terms of Use (TOU) is necessary, just so that we can do the things needed to run our website and build and maintain the Eons community.

The license that you, the copyright owner, give Eons is:

• worldwide – because the Internet and Eons are global in reach;
• royalty-free – meaning that Eons is not required to pay you for the content that you post;
• non-exclusive – meaning you are free to license your content to anyone else in addition to Eons; and
• sub licensable – so that Eons is able to use its affiliates and subcontractors such as Internet content delivery networks to provide our eons.com website.

Among other things, the license you give us includes the right to modify the content you post on eons.com. Without this right, Eons would not be able to format content to satisfy technical requirements of the website.

The license also includes the right to distribute content “in any form.” We realize that this is a very wide-open term. But as we BOOMers know, technology moves at an incredible pace, and the forms of communication we’re familiar with today may quickly be replaced by forms we can’t even envision yet. We’ve already seen our world move on from vinyl records to reel-to-reel tapes, then cassettes, CD’s and DVD’s. We have moved from snail-mail to email, IM’s, blogs, and text and video messaging via cell phones (and probably other media and means of communications that we at Eons don’t even know about). Given the fast pace of change, that “in any form” language enables us to move quickly to meet our members’ changing needs.

Eons Community Guidelines

The Eons Community Guidelines are a simplified version of the Eons Terms of Use. To familiarize yourself with these "rules of the road", please visit The Eons Community Guidelines.